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A manifesto for the simple scribe – my 25 commandments for journalists | Tim Radford | The Guardian

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I wrote these 25 commandments as a panic response 15 or more years ago to an invitation to do some media training for a group of Elsevier editors. I began compiling them because I had just asked myself what was the most important thing to remember about writing a story, and the answer came back loud and clear: "To make somebody read it." Ultimately, there's no other reason for writing. Journalists write to support democracy, sustain truth, salute justice, justify expenses, see the world and make a living, but to satisfactorily do any of these things you have to have readers. Fairness and accuracy are of course profoundly important. Without them, you aren't in journalism proper: you are playing some other game. But above all, you have to be read, or you aren't in journalism at all. I wrote down what was in my mind and once I'd started numbering things, I had to go on. I got past 10, and then 20, and stopped guiltily at 25. I then didn't have time to reduce the text to a formal Ten Comma

Tablets of stone: 'I realised that when stories I had tried to write turned out wrong, it was because I'd broken one of my own rules.' Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext/Paramount Tablets of stone: 'I realised that when stories I had tried to write turned out wrong, it was because I'd broken one of my own rules.' Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext/Paramount Notes & Theories Language This article is more than 15 years old A manifesto for the simple scribe – my 25 commandments for journalists This article is more than 15 years old Tim Radford Former Guardian science editor, letters editor, arts editor and l

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